Concept: Legal identity of trees in period of rapid extinction
Photos:
walk and tree identofication in Forest de Soignes / Verdronken Kinderen-Enfants Noyés.
Different elements of identity we looked at:
General parameters that create a 'normal' identity:
Nationality is complex in general, and also for the tree
in some cases nationality could be replaced by citizenship. could this equate to the family or species the tree belongs to?
proposal to create a 'corporation' around the tree?
Personhood is defined by
'Natural and articifial persons' are considered to be the property of a human being, any property can be
we could wrap a corporation around the tree, insert a human dna-fragment in it…
if you don't have a birth certificate, you need a story…
How do we proceed?
A lot of trees have numbers (is there a register? how is it managed?), we can presume all trees have a owner in Belgium but owners may have different status (forest, private property, city of brussels)
So maybe interesting to add the parameter of 'owner/user' to the series of tree-parameters and talk about 'lineage' or 'species' instead of nationality
Q: who owns it? Who has an interest in using it?
A tree is defined by lineage but also by 'the context': a tree in the city will be different, it can be climbed, polluted, dependant on humans ('candle stick' pruning)
Q: where do the seeds come from? where did it grow up?
We make a checklist and look at it from different perspectives
Perspective of a tree: does not want to be chopped off & wants the right to light, soil & water
We looked at an 'Oak du marais' in rue des Minimes. it was transplanted 6 years ago from somewhere else, serves as a 'bar', a meeting place, contains lights from humans, hosts birds…
Look at the plane trees (platane) in front of the Walvis. they are planned to be chopped down, and a local protest was mounted because they are the 2 only trees at that side of the Boulevard (between Yser & Porte de Ninove). There is a plan to replace them with 3 new trees planted 3,5 m closer to the bar (effect: the terrace will be half as big)
Next phase: proof of concept, create prototypes
UK barrister Bob Colover and Heath Bunting discuss the legal issues around identities. What constitutes a person? What is the difference between an artificial and a natural person? And what are the legal aspects of buying an identity? in “Natural and Artificial Identities, or The Ease of Interaction.” A conversation between Heath Bunting (artist), Bob Colover (UK barrister) and Annet Dekker (SKOR) » http://www.skor.nl/nl/site/item/interview-heath-bunting-bob-colover
Other thoughts:
Exploration of trees in the city of Brussels (1000)
* Introduction to the juridic context & management of trees and parks It is complicated
These public trees can belong to different official owners: the city, the Region (regional roads & parks), the king, the federal state. This is the first thing to find out. For the parks this is easy: Check the 'infofiches/fiches d'info' at http://documentatie.leefmilieubrussel.be For the roads there is the latest Regional Bike map (with relief & waterproof!) that has all the regional roads indicated in bold.
Almost all parks are protected. The trees in Regional parks and on Regional roads are signed with a number. Nevertheless, the numbering system is different for trees in parks and trees along regional roads, 'just because the system was already in place' in the two different institutions that manage these trees:
First number (the ax on which the tree is located, Small ringroad is nr 1); 2nd number (part of the ax on which the tree is located, usually number between 1 and 7); 3rd number (the number of the tree in that segment). The number is attributed by the company that composes the geographical information templates for each tree: Eurosense Belfotop SA. They take aerial pictures with infrared light/camera and analyse the vitality of the trees. All regional road trees are surveilled each 3 years (1/3 a year). From 2013 the trees will have a 4th number, which is the year of plantation.
The newly planted trees in the city of Brussels have only been registered since 2008. In 2011 the city started an (non-publicly accessible) inventory of all trees in 1000 Brussels. It is not finished yet. The rumour goes there are about 40000 different trees.
The Region has set up a public database on 'remarkable' trees: inventaire arbres. A tree can be part of the scientific database (it corresponds to the selection criteria), the conservation list (bewaarlijst: the tree cannot be cut or treated more than normal maintenance without permission of the state) or on the protected list (idem bewaarlijst + when the tree dies, a tree of the same species has to be planted in the same location). Selection criteria are: a considerable trunk (at 1,5m), the localisation (the more visible for the more people, more remarkable), the frequency (less frequent, more remarkable), the historical value (referenced in literary and other works), the age, the individualisation (in group, less remarkable) etc.
The team of the 'Cel Groene Zones' of the city of Brussels has selection criteria to chose trees to plant. The trees are 'suitable for urban environments' when:
Trees that are frequently planted: plataan, ash, lime tree, hazel, hawthorn Another criteria that is on stake for trees in the city: the presence of sewage, waterinfrastructure, gastubes or electircity cables in the underground, f.ex. there are no trees in Rue Dansaert, which is an important ax)
* exploration city
Walk in the city center, looking at trees, what they provide us with, how we could ent them Final destination: Prutske, the fig tree at La Bourse that is present in the scientific database of Monuments and Landscapes Discovery: the mini-oasis of biodiversity on Pantsertroepensquare, that has a 'bad' reputation as a dirty gipsy park trees are more difficult to identify because they have not blossomed yet and the maintenance has eliminated leaves, fruits or other identifiers… amazing how little grass and paths are left in the city, we guess it has also to do with maintenance and tidiness
Walk in the city forest: park of Laken where trees are like 'furniture for humans', discovery of a group of yews, shaking the branches produces a cloud of dust (pollen), female next to male trees; some numbered trees (check!)and a series of traces of which we are not sure whether they are from humans or from animals (wild chestnuts, leaves, chicken bones, rests of a walnut)
Books
* Colin Tudge, The Secret Life of Trees, Scala, 2009
Law & Management Links
Different uses of trees